Special issue: Busy in Boston Thursday, February 23, 2012 Year XLI. VolumeThe LXXXII. Issue LXXVI. Daily Free Presswww.dailyfreepress.com [ The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University ] Campus & City Special Issue Sports Weather POVERTY PROJECT: BUSY IN BOSTON: UMBC-YA: Group aims to better M. basketball beats Today: Showers, High 54 A weekender’s guide to Tonight: Snow, Low 32 worst living conditions Retrievers, 73-52 Tomorrow: 45/35 page 3 Beantown page 4 & 5 page 8 Data Courtesy of weather.com Health experts explore possible peeping Tom motivations MBTA looks for new lying mental and social motivations that could over the people that they are harming or they compel people to perpetrate these acts. feel entitled to do it because they immediately way to boost revenue, John Wincze, who has worked with the feel that they have more power.” Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Rothman said people’s social social envi- lower long-term debt BU, said such incidents tend to involve fulfill- ronment might also compel them to engage in By Samantha Tatro ing sexual desires and could be more common voyeuristic acts, including peeping. Daily Free Press Staff than expected. “For example, [if] a group of students de- Wincze, a clinical psychologist who spe- cided to play a prank on a group of girls and To help subsidize the T’s debt, a Massachu- cializes in sexual disorders at Brown Univer- take photos of them in the shower that may setts Bay Transportation Authority proposal sity, said while many people may feel curious be driven by group thinking, and that may be suggests places such as Boston University, and have voyeuristic urges, most wouldn’t act inspired by different reasons than somebody Tufts Medical Center and Fenway Park pay an- on them. who’s acting alone,” she said. nual fees to the MBTA. “In my experience, [when] dealing with Rejection during childhood and teenage The MBTA proposal would require institu- people with that degree of compulsion there are years can encourage voyeurism, Wincze said. tions that “benefit tremendously” from the pub- usually some factors of their background that If experiences of peeping paid off in the past - lic transit system to pay various fees to the T. If contribute to this, often someone who does not i.e., if they got away with it - the tendencies can enacted, MBTA fare increases would be limited have . access to partners in a regular way,” he be reinforced. at 25 percent, with subway fares jumping from said via phone. “It builds up over time, maybe looking for $1.70 to about $2.13, and no services would be PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUDREY FAIN/DAILY FREE PRESS Wincze said people who satisfy such com- an outlet, with today’s technology offers dif- cut. STAFF The MBTA Advisory Board pitched the There have been three reports of pulsions tend to lack social skills or appeal to ferent ways of expressing this, not unusual to other partners so they may act out their sexual come across cases like this,” Wincze said. ideas last Wednesday to shift part of the T’s “peeping Tom” incidents at Boston debt to area institutions that benefit from the University this semester. fantasies in such ways. With advances in technology there are many Emily Rothman, a professor of community more ways that people can exhibit voyeurism, transit system’s services. By Mary Yatrousis health science at the School of Public Health, such as through “sexting” and the ability to The MBTA Advisory Board proposed the Daily Free Press Staff disagreed. She said acts such as peeping and send pictures of one’s genitals to other people, plan as an alternative to previous Massachu- setts Department of Transportation proposals Boston University students and officials stalking are often not completely sexually mo- he said. that would include 33- to 43-percent fare hikes have expressed concern over the recent “peep- tivated; instead, there is an element of power College of Arts and Sciences freshman and service cuts. ing Tom” incidents that have been reported in and control to such acts. Ilana Langsam, a resident of the floor on War- The board suggested that the MBTA imple- the last month. While it is not clear whether or “This easily is not just because they are get- ren Towers in which the most recent incident ment a “station-naming program” that would not these cases are connected, they reflected a ting sexually aroused by doing this,” Rothman occurred, said she felt safe after the hole in the charge institutions such as Harvard University, pattern involving voyeurism. said, “but part of the sexual arousal [and mo- shower was filled. BU and the Prudential Center for the MBTA to BU health experts weighed in on the under- tivation is] that they want to feel some power PEEPING, see page 2 continue using their names in the names of T stops. These stations “are all named after viable Boston ranks 20th in nationwide poverty rate, recent data shows institutions that surely benefit from having their By Sonia Su tor, philanthropies and non-profits to provide He said a city’s place in the rankings “is al- name attached to a station and should pay for Daily Free Press Staff affordable housing, job development, child most certainly very tightly linked with its mi- this privilege,” the board said in their review of Boston ranked 20th among America’s ma- care and other resources,” she said, “so people nority population percentage.” the MassDOT fare increases. jor cities with the highest poverty rates, accord- can get into jobs that pay a living wage, go to The national poverty rate in 2010 was 15 Boston University spokesman Colin Riley ing to recent data from Queens College demog- school and more.” percent, according to the 2010 report, while said the school, which does not pay the MBTA rapher Professor Andrew Beveridge. ABCD Planning Manager Midori Morika- Boston’s poverty index is 23.3 percent, accord- for the use of its name in stations such as BU Local antipoverty agencies, including Ac- wa said ABCD has seen an increased demand ing to Beveridge’s data. East and BU Central, would have to review the tion for Boston Community Development and in its services. “The poverty rate in cities tends to be higher proposals. members of the Boston University community, Some of the most commonly sought after because the percentage of minorities, blacks Northeastern University would also be said this does not come as a surprise. services, such as healthcare and housing assis- and Hispanics, is typically higher in cities,” charged under the proposal for the Northeastern Susan Kooperstein, ABCD vice president tance, have increased by 268.9 percent and 79.1 Meenan said. “And the poverty rate in those University station on the Green Line’s E route. for external affairs, said in an email that despite percent, respectively, from 2010 to 2011, ac- two groups is typically higher than it is in “We’re closely reviewing the different pro- it being a sad fact for a great city, she believed cording to a data chart provided by Morikawa. whites and Asians.” posals put forth by the MBTA and various state Boston ranks in the top 20 major cities in terms Robert Meenan, professor and dean of BU’s Morikawa also said minorities continue to officials,” Northeastern spokeswoman Kara of poverty. School of Public Health, said poverty rates be disproportionately affected by poverty. Shemin said via email. “Because these propos- “Government needs to mobilize major re- in cities, referring to a 2010 report from the But BU College of Arts and Sciences senior als are still in the idea stage, it is premature sources and work together with the private sec- U.S. Census Bureau, are functions of the well- known correlation between race and income. SEE FULL STORY ONLINE SEE FULL STORY ONLINE Photonics Center partners with Irish BEND AND SNAP company to test network project By Mariah Shah matures, then we’ll be first to benefit from Daily Free Press Staff this, of course.” The money is being raised externally, Intune Networks partnered with Boston with the company funding the hardware be- University’s Photonics Center to explore ing used for the network tests in the lab. Part newer fiber optic technology to address the of the money will go toward regular research rapid growth of Internet traffic. and development. College of Engineering Professor Alexan- The new network technology is not in ef- der Sergienko, who is helping conduct the re- fect anywhere yet, but Sergienko said BU’s search, said the research team will begin lab involvement in the research will prove to be testing for the Boston University Research beneficial for BU. Switch and Transportation Network in its The research will explore technology that partnership with the Ireland-based company. allows for new network architectures using The research team will explore technolo- Intune Networks’ optical packet switch and gy that allows for new network architectures transport technology, according to the press using Intune Networks’ optical packet switch release. and transport technology, according to a Feb. The proposed network will be designed 17 Intune Networks press release. for metropolises, campuses or data centers, AUDREY FAIN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF “At the moment it is a new exploratory Sergienko said. technology,” Sergienko said. “It’s not like “In the future when they start selling real College of General Studies sophomore Steph Campanda enjoys the someone is going to install the new network devices, when we get past the research and beautiful Wednesday weather with a game of frisbee on the Boston Uni- on campus - at least not for the next few versity Beach.